Abstinence Only Sex Ed

Abstinence Only Sex Ed

According to a new report from the government, teenage birthrates are rising. Bloomberg.com points out that this is the first increase in fifteen years. Although the article doesn’t make any sort of reference to sex education, I’m afraid that the information will be used to increase support for the Bush administration’s abstinence only programs, even though studies have shown that these programs are dismal failures. See, for instance, this Fox news article for a “fair and balanced” report.

Clearly, more needs to be done to frighten and guilt-trip kids and confuse them about sex. In the Bible when someone has carnal relations with someone the verb “know” is often used. Adam and Eve did not even have sex until they ate of the Tree of Knowledge. The lesson is obvious. If we really want our kids to stop having sex, we need to give them as little knowledge as possible. Abstinence-only sex education has been a good first step in reaching that goal, but we can do better.